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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050440">Lost in the Shadows</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nachtmaredoll/pseuds/nachtmaredoll'>nachtmaredoll</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I’ll Wait ‘Till the End of Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Andrea refuses to acknowledge emotions, Angst, Cloud sucks at voicing his actual thoughts, M/M, Misunderstandings, bad communication skills, this went wayward</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:47:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nachtmaredoll/pseuds/nachtmaredoll</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After helping Leslie kill Don Corneo and his pets, Cloud, Tifa and Barrett decide to rest for the night and to go topside come morning while Cloud decides that instead of sleeping he’ll visit Andrea—he has something to return and news to tell, after all. </p><p>... Things don’t go how he thought, however, and he’s not quite sure why.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andrea Rhodea/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I’ll Wait ‘Till the End of Time [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lost in the Shadows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This has to be dedicated to the people in the Rhife discord server that helped me brainstorm what this once was, and even after it went off the rails, continued to send support my way. I’ve had a horrible day, but they made it better and I thank you all very very much!</p><p>Also: this was *supposed* to be a cute/sweet end to a goofy story. I honestly do not know what happened as I wrote this out.</p><p>NOTICE: I now have a discord server up and running, if you would like to join please copy/paste this link: https://discord.gg/QP59rcVNA5<br/>- note: DM me your fandom (options: FF7, P5 or RGG | Yakuza) or you will be kicked when you disconnect.<br/>- note 2: This server has three separate fandoms locked (you must apply), a multi fandom HQ (you must apply to a fandom), as well as a general chat/streaming HQ. This is a safe space for ALL that join, without multiple servers needed. You may lurk or you can be active.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cloud moved through the Honeybees as he followed Andrea off stage and through the back hallways of the Honeybee Inn. The dancer seemed to be upset with him, and he wasn’t entirely sure <em> why</em>, as the other man had seemed <em> perfectly </em> content with his presence when they were on stage just a few minutes ago. Sighing, Cloud kept on through the tight labyrinth, not losing sight of the graceful dancer as he speed walked further away from Cloud. Picking up his speed, Cloud reached out and grabbed Andrea, first by the back of his shirt to catch his attention and slow him down, and then by gripping the dancer’s bicep in a tight grip. He hummed softly to himself as he ignored the definition of muscle and kept his grip on Andrea’s left bicep, focusing instead on pulling the protesting man alongside him as he followed the lowly lit path out into a wider hallway and finally let go of the taller man just as the dancer’s right hand came up to tear at Cloud’s own gloved hand.</p><p>“Let <em> go </em> of me, Cloud.” Andrea’s voice cracked slightly as he pulled at Cloud’s hand on his bicep, pulling his arm away from the blonde as Cloud frowned and his eyes met Andrea’s own slightly wide gaze.</p><p>“I need to talk to you.” Cloud softly spoke out the words, repeating them for the third time since he’d stepped up into the stage of the Honeybee Inn. He had first said them softly, just loud enough for Andrea to hear his request, before the man had demanded Cloud to pay for Andrea’s time with yet another dance off. And he’d repeated those very same words when their dance had been done and Cloud had leant over Andrea as the taller man had slowly slid from the pole and back to his feet.</p><p>“I’d love to, <em> honey</em>, but… I’m busy.” Andrea hummed in an annoyed purr, once again trying to walk away from Cloud and once again his hand shot out to catch the other’s bicep. He didn’t know what he had done to piss off or annoy the dancer, but now his own temperament was slowly beginning to match the sourness of the other’s. Cloud was beginning to get annoyed as he’d only returned here to give Andrea his earrings back and to inform him of Don Corneo’s death, and he’d already paid for the man’s time by once again getting up on stage and dancing—this time <em> pole dancing</em>.</p><p>“Don’t care.” Cloud knew his tone had turned curt and gruff, and he knew that Andrea wasn’t the type to be intimidated, since he worked under the Don’s control—or, more accurately: he <em> used </em> to work under the Don’s control. Still, Cloud was growing annoyed and he didn’t know what he’d done to set Andrea off. This side was so drastically different than the man he had met and danced with last night, he was different from the side he’d seen that morning in Jules’ gym, and even more so this side was so contrary to the charmer that had just been pole dancing up on the stage to a roaring crowd. Sure, Cloud knew that all he had seen were glimpses, and none of which were not nearly enough for him to know Andrea but he had <em> thought </em> that the dancer was different from others. He had thought for <em> just once </em> the man standing before him now could have possibly seen something more in him, past the mercenary with the cold heart or the mako infused eyes that marked him as an ex-SOLDIER and ‘ <em> other’</em>... but he supposed not. It wasn’t the first time that Cloud had been wrong about someone or something, and it probably wouldn’t be the last either, but he had <em> hoped… </em></p><p>“Well, <em> I </em> care. I have a business to run, and no time for mercs.” Andrea almost sneered as he tugged his arm out of Cloud’s grip, or at least <em> tried </em>to. “Let go of me, Cloud. I have a business to run.”</p><p>Blinking at the tone in Andrea’s voice, and the dark look contorting his handsome face, Cloud finally let go of the dancer’s arm and let his gaze fall from the taller man’s. Dropping his head, he shifted his weight and flexed his hands in an effort not to reach for the handle of his broadsword for the sudden want of grounding himself with it, as he knew full well how the action would appear to the dancer—even if Cloud didn’t know what he’d done wrong in the first place. Cloud had found himself hoping—such a foolish concept now—all over a few short moments of conversation and after a few softly spoken pretty words that were probably repeated to anyone the dancer found himself amused by...</p><p>Gritting his teeth, Cloud lifted his gaze back to meet Andrea’s and refused to study the sudden flicker of <em> something </em>that crossed the man’s gaze as Cloud pulled himself to his full height and the dancer seemed to slightly shrink as he stepped back from Cloud, causing a gasp to escape the taller and broader man as his back lightly met the wall behind him. “I don’t care. I just already paid for your time, and it’s a short missive. If you’d simply heard me out, you could already be well on your way to entertaining the mindless guttersnipes that you call ‘clients’.”</p><p>“Was that a cheap shot at my—?!” Andrea stood up straight again then, standing to his full height as he advanced on Cloud and shoved him back into the wall. Grunting, Cloud grimaced as he realized how what he had said sounded to the man before him.</p><p>“No.” Cloud bit out, cutting Andrea off and straining not to say the word through clenched teeth and make the mad man any angrier. As warm and soothing as Andrea had been last night, guiding him and keeping him steady within his arms, making Cloud <em> think; </em> that was as cold, deadly and absolutely <em> seething </em> as Andrea was now. It was a reminder that no matter what glamour Andrea wore, no matter how fancily attired or how attractive: Andrea Rhodea was still one of the Trio that worked under Don Corneo, and what’s more, the man was the <em> centerpiece </em>of it.</p><p>Sighing, Cloud once again dropped his gaze from the dancer’s and hung his head, feeling the fight leaving his body as his shoulders slumped and he gave up the last lingering remnants of half-baked thoughts and tingling sensations of fingertips brushing his skin with whispered words that had seemed to pierce his very soul. Finding his voice again, he shifted slightly away from Andrea to press back against the wall a little more and finally continued his train of thought. “No, that wasn’t what I meant. I re…” He <em> had </em>respected the man.</p><p>“That just… wasn’t what I meant.” Cloud kept his head bowed as he just barely lifted his eyes enough to feign that he was looking any farther above than the vague area of Andrea’s jaw. “I meant that as a slight to your clientele, not you. What you do as your job isn’t my place to judge, nor is it my concern. I’m just a <em> merc</em>, after all.” Cloud ignored the way Andrea’s breath seemed to catch at his tone, and he resolutely ignored the tearing feeling he had in his chest as he fought not to shift or fidget like he had an itch he needed to scratch. He didn’t even understand why this seemed to hurt so much; was it because they’d just lost Jessie and Biggs? Was this ripping sensation a mere byproduct of having been the one to hold each of their hands as their lives left them? He had just begun to let them in after all. “Sorry.”</p><p>“Cloud…” Andrea’s voice was soft again, closer to that purr that had echoed in his ears and drove him to sneak out of the Gainsborough house to even <em> come </em> here in the <em> first place. </em></p><p>“Don’t.” His voice was steady as his head tilted and he stopped moving as he stood in the middle of the hall, cocking his hip slightly as he reached into his pocket for the very reason he’d come here. He was careful with the fragile bundle, two delicate gold earrings wrapped in a ripped piece of black cloth, despite no longer feeling the same bolstering attachment that he had felt overnight and all day until just minutes ago when it had crashed down around him. He didn’t know what he’d possibly done to piss off the older man, and he didn’t have the courage to ask; if he was being brutally honest with himself, that is. Stepping back to the dancer, he reached out with his right hand to grab and pull Andrea’s own away from his stomach and turned the man just enough to place the bundle in the palm of his hand and close his fingers around the gentle pieces of jewelry. “I was just wanting to return these to you.” He ignored the shocked and sharp gasp from the dancer, and resolutely kept his head bowed and his eyes fixed onto the black silk cloth that was now gently held within Andrea’s right hand. “That and to tell you that Corneo’s dead.”</p><p>“What..?” Andrea’s voice sounded shocked, and his left hand came up to touch him, but Cloud danced away from it before finally giving into his impulse to reach for the hilt of his sword and adjust it.</p><p>“That was all I needed to see you for.” Cloud shifted then, only faintly registering as he gave the man one of his curt nods and turned on his heel before walking the rest of the way out of the backstage passageway and out into a side hall that opened right into the inner lobby. Cloud kept walking as he shifted around the curiously tittering Honeygirls that had made him practice the night before, past the Honeyboy that he recognized as having done his makeup, through the front lobby as he ignored the concerned frown—and voice—of the receptionist, and out into Wall Market proper to head back to Sector 5 and the Gainsborough house.</p><p>Whatever he had <em> thought</em>, he had been <em> wrong. </em> He should’ve known better. Better than to ever even dare to <em> hope. </em> He’d made a mistake, but at least he’d learnt it <em> now </em> instead of <em> later</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Cloud didn’t stop moving until he had slipped back into his room at the Gainsborough house, just a few minutes after 1:00 am, and laid back down under the covers in an effort to try to get a few hours of sleep—now that it was a thing to be.</p><p>As he closed his eyes, he fought back the thoughts that he’d mildly entertained before he’d left this very spot only two hours earlier; back when he had contemplated the <em> briefest </em> of possibilities of laying down in a different bed, held firmly by strong arms with his back against that of a warm and muscled chest. Two hours ago, that had seemed like such a strong possibility for his night to lead to. He’d even thought it was going to when he’d looked down into those green-gray eyes at the end of that dance, but at some point from that moment to the few seconds it took for his feet to hit the flooring of the backstage passageway, it had just ceased to be.</p><p>All he had said was that he needed to tell the other something. <em> I need to talk to you. </em> Softly spoken, just a whisper as he followed the other’s lead. He replayed it over in his mind, trying to find if he’d missed some unspoken social cue, but the other had still been <em> warm</em>—still <em> smiling</em>. Until he suddenly <em> wasn’t. </em></p><p>Shaking his head, Cloud rolled onto his side and propped his head on his arm, wincing slightly as another round of faint cologne assaulted his senses—no longer as welcoming as it once was—and ignored the twist in his stomach as his prior thoughts of possible endings for the night played through his mind once more with the scent that now seemed to mock him burning into his senses.</p><p>Closing his eyes, Cloud fought back his thoughts and willed sleep to claim him—preferably <em> dreamless. </em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The original dialogue I had thought up before this fic became this: </p><p>— Part One —<br/>Cloud: I need to talk to you<br/>Andi: I’d love to honey, but... I’m busy<br/>Cloud: Don’t care<br/>Andi: *I* care. I have a business to run<br/>Cloud: And *I* have something important to tell you that the mindless fodder you call ‘clients’ can wait a little longer for you to hear<br/>Andi: *turning* Was that a...<br/>Cloud: No. *holds up a hand* It *wasn’t* and *isn’t*. I respect you too much to do that.<br/>Cloud: Sorry<br/>Andi: *glares, sighs* Fine. You can talk to me while I shower and change. As I *said* I don’t have the *time*<br/>Cloud: Fine. Lead the way.</p><p>—Part Two—<br/>Cloud: oh... right, these are why I came by<br/>Andi: Hm? Oh...<br/>Cloud: I wanted to return these *sets them gently on the vanity*, thanks... again<br/>Andi: .... *blinks* No... thank *you* Cloud, for unseating the Don<br/>Cloud: *nods, turns and leaves*<br/>Andi: *stares at the earrings, cusses to himself; runs after Cloud*<br/>Cloud: *half down the stairs*<br/>Andi: Cloud!<br/>Cloud: Hm? *turning/looking up the stairs again*<br/>Andi: I forgot to... *steps to him, gently kisses him, slips the earrings into his pocket as he steps to stand evenly*<br/>Cloud: ... right<br/>Andi: Good luck *smirks as Cloud walks off*</p></blockquote></div></div>
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